Storms, winds, and other factors sometimes down corn. When harvest comes, downed corn creates harvesting difficulties and may result in appreciable amounts of grain not being harvested. Corn reels, which are typically mounted on a corn head, have been used to address the problem. These corn reels utilize fingers mounted to a rotating corn reel axle to feed corn into the corn head, thereby lessening loss of product.
With conventional corn reels, the fingers, sometimes referred to as spokes, are connected to the corn reel axle by way of an integrally formed mount. For example, the fingers may be welded together with the mount. The mount is attached or secured to the corn reel axle by way of bolts, which require hand tools to tighten and assemble the corn reel. Similarly, in order to disconnect the fingers from the axle, this also requires hand tools. In some cases, farmers have welded fingers directly to the corn reel axle.
When a corn reel is attached to a corn head, the speed at which the corn head is operated must be reduced substantially, because of the extending fingers. Thus, it is desirable to utilize a corn reel only in those sections of a field that have downed corn. Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to quickly attach and detach the fingers from a corn reel while in the field without the need for tools. The quick detach fingers also allow for more compact storage of the fingers when not in use, and easier replacement of damaged fingers.